White House Calls on Mike Pence to Apologize After 'Homophobic, Offensive' Joke About Pete Buttigieg

Joshua Roberts/Getty Images Mike Pence

The White House is calling on Mike Pence to apologize for making "homophobic" as well as "offensive and inappropriate" jokes about Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Speaking at the Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Pence, 63, told those in attendance: "When Pete's two children were born, he took two months maternity leave, where upon thousands of travelers were stranded in airports, the air traffic system shut down, airplanes nearly collided in midair."

Pence continued: "I mean, Pete Buttigieg is the only person in human history to have a child and all the rest of us get postpartum depression."

Pete Buttigieg/Twitter Chasten (left) and Pete Buttigieg and their kids

Buttigieg took paternity leave after welcoming twins Penelope Rose and Joseph "Gus" August in summer of 2021 with his husband Chasten. After the children were born prematurely, they both developed RSV and one was hospitalized, which included a week on a ventilator.

"The former vice president's homophobic joke about Secretary Buttigieg was offensive and inappropriate, all the more so because he treated women suffering from postpartum depression as a punchline," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "He should apologize to women and LGBTQ people, who are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect."

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Chasten has also responded to Pence's "attempted joke," writing on Twitter that the couple's twins were hospitalized after their premature births.

"An honest question for you, Mike Pence, after your attempted joke this weekend. If your grandchild was born prematurely and placed on a ventilator at two months old — their tiny fingers wrapped around yours as the monitors beep in the background — where would you be?" Chasten tweeted on Monday.

Meanwhile, Pence's chief of staff called the White House's request for an apology "faux outrage," tweeting: "The White House would be wise to focus less on placating the woke police and focus more on bank failures, planes nearly colliding in mid-air, train derailments, and the continued supply chain crisis."

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Buttigieg has previously responded to criticism from Tucker Carlson after the Fox News host said on-air that the former mayor and presidential candidate was on "paternity leave, they call it, trying to figure out how to breastfeed."

Speaking to CNN, Buttigieg said at the time: "I'm not going to apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins. The work that we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, wonderful work, it's important work."